This week’s FOI list is dominated by two stories made possible by the BBC – a nationwide investigation into how well developer money given to councils is spent, followed by questions about how many people visit A and E more than once, which uncovered some people visiting more than 100 times a year!

Hertfordshire County Council has been criticised for failing to spend £56 million in community money – the highest amount among English authorities.

The council has obtained the funds through Section 106 agreements with developers, whereby an amount of money is given to offset the impact planning projects have on the community.

The Conservative-controlled county council was found to have the most unspent S106 money of the 316 local authorities in England which responded to a BBC Freedom of Information request. The remaining 37 authorities did not respond.

It has also been revealed that £691,000 in S106 money had to be returned to developers by the county council in a five-year period up to April, 2013, as it had not been spent in time. For the past financial year, £45,000 was returned.

HEALTH campaigners have blasted those who repeatedly turn up at emergency hospital departments with minor complaints – including two patients who visited hospital more than 100 times each last year.

New figures released by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust also showed there were five patients who sought emergency or urgent care more than 50 times each in 2012/13, with 224 people seeking care on more than 10 occasions.

The new statistics, released under Freedom of Information laws, showed one patient turned up at hospital 136 times, with another attending 124 times. The visits were spread between the A&E ward, the urgent care centres based at the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General hospitals, and the minor injuries unit in Accrington.

THE number of rule-breaking cyclists being hit with fines in the Lothian region has spiralled in the past three years, it has been revealed.

Police Scotland figures made public under Freedom of Information legislation show that 193 riders were handed the £30 fixed-penalty notices for traffic offences in 2012-13, swelling coffers by almost £6000.

The total caught and fined in the Lothian and Borders region compares with just 99 in 2010-11 and 119 the following year, meaning it has almost doubled in a 36-month period.

Motoring groups said the rise could be attributed to police taking a harder line with riders following a string of casualties, while cycling groups said the fact that more bikes are on the roads could explain the increase.

BETTER reporting is the reason for more recorded incidents of aggression towards emergency department staff, Salisbury District Hospital bosses claim.

Figures revealed in a Freedom of Information request show that security staff were called to the department on 46 occasions last year, compared with 22 times in 2011/2012 and eight times in 2010/2011. Police had to attend seven of the 46 incidents, the figures show.

Physical abuse of staff by patients, or someone accompanying a patient, went up from six incidents in 2010/2011 to 15 last year, while over the same period, incidents of verbal abuse increased from 16 to 29.